He was born in London, England and is the son of famous English prizefighter Dutch Sam, who is also in the Hall of Fame.

Fighting as a welterweight, Sam won his first fight at age 15 by defeating Bill Dean in 45 minutes and was recognized as the world welterweight champion in 1820s and 30s. Sam defeated Ned Stockham, Harry Jones, Tom Cooper, Jack Cooper, Dick Davis and Ned Neale among others before retiring from the ring never having lost a fight.